A BAD KING IS A SAD THING

Bear and her woodland friends are terrorized by a towering ice bear who moves in, declaring himself king and them nonpersons—“just food that no one has bothered to eat.”

“I thought this kind of terrible thing only happened in books!” declares Mole, aghast. But no, it seems that if the roaring, imperious newcomer’s demand for a whole new palace isn’t met overnight, everyone will be summarily “beaten, eaten, and pooped.” What to do when the kindness and generosity that resolved problems in past episodes go for naught and even force isn’t a viable option? Showing that there’s still some moral high ground to be explored, Gough brings in help from a decidedly unexpected source…namely, Wolf, earlier driven off into the Dark Woods to starve for his predatory behavior but, it turns out, wise in the ways of coping with fears and clever enough to devise a collective strategy to send the bully packing. The grateful animals in turn contrive a nonfatal way to bring their tricksy, toothy benefactor back into the fold. At least for a time. Flooding snowy settings in the duotone illustrations with blue, wintry light, Field exaggerates the expressions and postures of his popeyed cartoon animal figures to heighten the comedy and the drama alike. In several scenes Wolf resembles a particularly feral, emaciated Wile E. Coyote, which makes his sagacity even more of a thought-provoking surprise.

Like its series predecessors, both broad and deep, focused on themes of community dynamics and conflict resolution.